…these poems… tell the story of a poet recovering from a war of extraordinary violence, taking his bearings in a new world, and trying to locate and understand his task as a poet. from the Introduction by Robert Hass

“My pen is lighter than a hummingbird’s feather. This burden is too much for it to bear,” Czesław Milosz writes in Warsaw, written in 1945. “Leave to poets a moment of happiness, Otherwise your world will perish. It’s madness to live without joy.” It is the opening poem in Poet in the New World. He had witnessed war’s violence in his homeland of Poland. In 1951 through 1953 lived in the United States, still processing the past and the evolving post-war world.

In pe, he warns of the impermanence of things–countries, cities, people, the past. On the Song of a Bird on the Banks of the Potomac, he “listens to your lovely ones with joy,” the bird unaware of what the poet has seen.

Treatise on Morals, written in 1947, particularly affected me. “Can anything save the earth?” he begins, but later writes, “You are not, however, so helpless, /And even if you were a stone in a field, /An avalanche changes its course /Depending on the stones it rolls over.” He encourages, “And so remember: in a difficult moment,/You must be the ambassador of dreams.” And asserts, “My poem should be a refuge against despair.”

Treatise warns “Beware madmen,” the “greatest disaster in nature,” and “This is your world. It is on the line./The politicians have already lost the game”, ending “before us lies “The Heart of Darkness.”

The poet endures. And the whisper of his voice is great and gives comfort to people. from To Tadeusz Rozewicz, Poet by Czeslaw Milosz

In To Laura, he writes “The precious virtue of freedom remains/And it needs to be won every day./Thousands will put on their own shackles/And poison their hearts.”

What Milosz writes about it not just the past, about history, what has happened. The message remains sharp and immediate today.

Thanks to the publisher for a free book through NetGalley.

Poet In The New World represents snapshots of Czeslaw Milosz's life from 1945-1953 while living in Warsaw, Washington, DC, and other places in Europe. The poems range from feeling dread and despair to love and hope during this time in his life. The imagery is sometimes stark yet vivid. His feelings are completely laid bare for all to see.

This is an excellent collection of poems to read for pleasure or academic purposes (comparing this to his other works at other times in his life). Reminds of Leonard Cohen before Leonard Cohen's work existed.

Highly recommended.